Opinion

Good morning.

The new California Legislature was sworn in this week and Democrats were busy trying to build a “blue wall” against the expected policies of President-elect Donald Trump. The details, from CALmatters news analyst Laurel Rosenhall and immigration reporter Elizabeth Aguilera.

Democrats who dominate the new California Legislature vow to unleash one of the superpowers of holding a supermajority: the ability to enact laws immediately by passing urgency bills. They predict they will be able to act fast—counter-punching in real time—if Republican President-elect Donald Trump signs federal laws or adopts policies they perceive as hostile to California.

In a state where Democrats hold the governor’s office and supermajorities in both houses of the Legislature, lawmakers say their answer will be a vociferous “no” if the federal government tries to peruse California’s DMV records and other state databases to identify undocumented immigrants. That would likely kick off what could be a protracted fed-versus-state legal battle—one in which both sides predict their argument would prevail.

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